It has been a long time since the last update. However, finally the new and completely reworked Race Online is out. We can happily say that the game is almost finished and it will be released early next month on Wednesday 5th of April. A new trailer and screenshots released alongside this update give a glimpse how the game has changed since the last update, but here is a more detailed breakdown of all the things we have been working for the last 12 months to make this the best top down racer today.
Before the breakdown we want to thank everyone who have given feedback during the early access period. That feedback has really helped us to improve the game and to make it fun and a polished arcade racing experience.
Now when the update is live, we hope that you can give us even more feedback of the changes we have made and how you feel about the game. Polishing and balancing the game never ends. Moreover, the updates will be released even after the release so all feedback is still as valuable as ever.
The game has gone through a complete overhaul having many of the core features and mechanics redone during the last 12 months. One of the biggest features that was remade is the AI. Before this update there were a lot of issues with AI cars pushing player out from the road and other problems related to how the AI chose the driving lines in general. In the current version AI does not try to force itself through other cars, instead it tries to choose the best possible driving line and avoid collisions and otherwise make wiser decisions. The AI has come a long way since the last version, but it is still further improved before the final release.
All sound assets in the game are new. Everything from car engines to collisions and button sounds were remade. Note that this is still partly under development and there will be further changes and updates to game sounds before the final release.
Completely new original soundtrack was composed for the game. In total there are 10 music tracks that can be heard in the game and they can be also used with player’s own custom made tracks in the game’s track editor.
Camera movement was jerky and its behaviour made playing the game difficult in some cases. There are now four improved options, which are near, medium, far and dynamic camera modes. In addition there is a splitscreen possibility for local multiplayer supporting six simultaneous players.
The local multiplayer can be played from one shared screen or with the splitscreen option turned on from the game settings. Another update to local MP is the feature where each player can type their own name while entering the local MP game. The game also saves 10 last used names, so using the once used nickname is easy.
The game supports four players at the same time on one keyboard, and four simultaneous game controllers. These both control methods can be mixed. For example, four of the players can use game controllers and the rest can play using the keyboard.
Overall performance of the game is improved. From technical point of view almost all parts of the game has gone through a drastic optimization process.
Finally there is a wide selection of new Steam achievements released alongside with the update.
The biggest changes that were made are related to cars. The upgrade system was completely removed to make balancing the vehicles possible. Another reason for this was that we wanted each vehicle to have unique driving model. Now, all six vehicles have very distinct way they handle and how they should be driven. Before this they were more or less clones of one another, but now driving them feels completely different. In the single player mode new cars still need to be unlocked, but the unlocking system has been changed to emphasize player’s driving skills, and not the endurance to grind the competitions with poorly upgraded parts.
This also means that the whole game economy is renewed. The basics are the same and all vehicles are open immediately in the multiplayer, but in the single player the game progression relies on unlocking new vehicles and career options by playing the game and winning the seasons in each vehicle’s own career mode.
Another significant difference is that in the single player and in the online multiplayer there can be 10 cars on track simultaneously. Until now the game supported only six vehicles at the same time. However, the local multiplayer still supports only six simultaneous players. This is because of the new splitscreen functionality, which would be unplayable with more than six players because of the small screen size.
In addition to gameplay changes cars have been polished visually. All vehicle graphics have been altered in some way. Moreover, they have new particle effects, animated turning wheels and lot nicer looking skidmarks that they leave behind.
All game graphics have been updated. One thing that can be seen immediately after starting the updated game is that there is a lot more movement in the game. There are animated objects, moving vehicles, animals and people in the game that make the world look much more living. In addition there are level wide particle effects that are used for multiple purposes, like for example rain, snowing and dust storms to mention a few. These were not possible before the game went through the optimization process and thanks to that it is now possible to have much more visual elements in one level than before.
Car outlines that can be seen while driving under bridges are both a visual and a game mechanical addition, but this definitely makes the gameplay smoother and more responsive than it was before. Same goes for the updated skidmarks that are more effective performance-wise, which also makes it possible for them to look better than before.
So much new art has been made to the game that it is impossible to list everything here. There are hundreds of new assets and themes that make the game more varied than the last iteration.
After the Anniversary Update there are now 100 tracks in the game. All of the old tracks have been remade and dozens of tracks were completely scrapped because they either weren’t either fun to play or they did not work with the new driving model. Therefore, even for those who played each level in the old version, this new update offers a completely new experience and hours worth of gameplay while making yourselves familiar with the new tracks.
More specifically, all the updates that were made are not purely visual. They include also several game mechanical changes. For example in each level there are wider roads that make levels much more fitting to be driven with all vehicles in the game. Also obstacles too close to the racing line have been removed, which makes finding the optimal racing lines fun and not so frustrating when trying to avoid building corners with pixel accuracy.
There are new environments that make the game much more diverse than before. For example lava themed levels are a fun alternative to the old ones. Even the old themes have much more variety with multiple city and snow themes for example. The old themes also received a wide selection of new objects giving them a completely new refreshing look.
Lastly, the final updated feature introduced under this topic is more game mechanical by its nature. The maximum level size is now twice as big as the old system. This means that levels can be much bigger than before. This is another step forward we were able to do after optimizing the game. Making bigger tracks is also possible in the game editor, so this is not limited only to pre made levels.
The game editor is the third big component in the game in addition to single player and multiplayer components. Since we have started our game development careers by making modifications to other games as a hobby, it is, in our opinion, very important to give the community an ability to create more content and share that with the others. Therefore, the editor has been updated and made easier to use with new features.
The size matters and because of that also the track editor now supports maps twice as large as before. Another thing made easier is that control points can be moved after placing them therefore making adjusting driving lines for AI players much easier. This combined with the updated AI, which no longer follows the control points like slaves as they did before, it is also easier to set up well placed control points a lot faster.
Track area can be defined in the editor. This way the large map is not shown entirely when played. This makes the gameplay visually more appealing and the game easier to play.
Tool for removing objects in the level now shows a visual clue on what object will be removed, this makes editing objects a lot easier in the future.
There are still several things that will be improved before the release. The first multiplayer related feature is the server hosting. Players are now able to do their own servers and define them private or open with password system. Moreover they can adjust which levels are played and for how many players the lobby is open. Another multiplayer feature relates strongly to the first one it being a server browser. The browser allows much more flexible PC centric multiplayer system than the current automated hosting and client system. These features are currently in an internal testing, but will be released for public in the next update.
Other things we are still concentrating are improving the AI further, polishing levels and optimizing the multiplayer. Lastly there are still work to be done regarding sound effects. All these features are updated constantly until the game's release next month.
- AI has been remade
- All sound effects are remade and lots of new sfx added
- New original soundtrack with 10 music tracks
- Four camera modes with improved and polished functionality
- Option to use splitscreen in local multiplayer up to 6 players
- Local MP supports typing nicknames for each player and saving them
- Completely new car handling
- Car limit raised to 10 cars in single player and online multiplayer
- Car upgrades removed and replaced with each car having very unique driving model
- Cars have updated animations and particle effects
- All art assets are improved and updated
- Animated objects / Levels have moving vehicles, animals, people etc. / More objects
- Improved particle effects system supporting much more and prettier particles
- Visual effect when driving under a bridge showing where your car is
- Better looking skidmarks
- All Tracks updated, bad tracks removed and new tracks created
- Game now contains 100 tracks in total
- New environments (for example lava etc.)
- Lots of new objects was made to all themes
- Levels are now twice as wide making bigger and longer tracks possible
- Control Points can be now moved in the editor
- Track area can be defined in the editor
- Tool for removing objects is improved making track creation easier
- Improved the overall performance
- Server hosting added (activated later)
- Server browser added (activated later)
- New Steam achievements
